Into the Light
by Anthropos
Summary: Set 16 years after Buu. An old threat threat appears and this time it will take more than just Super Sayains to keep Earth safe. Human Z warriors must step up to prove their worth and stand next to their alien allies to protect not only Earth but the entire universe.
1. Chapter 1: A New Day

CH 1

A New Day

Year 790

Krillin spun in circles deflecting a multitude of ki blasts that came at him from every direction. He was currently on the defensive and he knew his opponents was too crafty for him to remain in a single place for long. As the number of ki blasts increased he went on the offensive launching two massive ki blasts, one from each extended arm in opposite directions, in an effort to hit his two adversaries. He quickly flew under the blast he sent to his left, getting as close as possible to the blast as it homed in on its target. Just as his first opponent dodged countered the blast with one of his own Krillin left the shadow of the blast and struck his opponent a viscous series of blows to the body that rendered his opponent unconscious. Krillin quickly spun around just in time to cancel out a massive energy blast thrown by his other attacker.

Krillin's opponent smiled. "Sneaky, using your own blast to mask your ki and get in a sneak attack."

Krillin frowned, "Well, you can't say that you wouldn't use that tactic given the same situation. And besides you just tried to blast me from behind."

Just then an alarm rang.

"Breakfast time." Both Krillin and his doppelganger said at the same time.

Krillin walked up to his twin and absorbed him into his body. Then he walked over to the unconscious body on the floor and absorbed yet another Krillin. Then he exited his large gym into a tiny control room and breathed a sigh of relief as he turned off the gravity manipulation controls. He watched the numbers rapidly count down from 500 to 1. Then a round opening appeared in the ceiling of the control room and Krillin rapidly flew a few hundred meters to the surface of Kame Island.

"Man this underground training center is just what I needed. At the levels I train at now it would really be a hassle trying to find some area empty enough that I could cut loose in." Krillin mused as he showered off the sweat from his early morning training. He quickly got on some fresh clothes and started cooking breakfast.

As he finished setting the two places at the table the kettle started to sing and he saw his wife make her way down the stairs looking very professional in business attire.. Krillin poured her a cup of tea and that she gratefully accepted and swiftly drank down.

18 narrowed her eyes at Krillin. "I can't believe I married a morning person! Always up before the sun and never grouchy."

Krillin smiled. "Well if I wasn't here you wouldn't ever get a home cooked meal. And then an important Capsule Corporation Vice President would head to the office hungry."

18 rolled her eyes and started in on breakfast.

After finishing breakfast 18 climbed into the company hover car and headed off to West City.

Krillin mused "With Maron off at college, 18 being a corporate big wig, Turtle visiting his family, and Master Roshi and Oolong off to watch the Miss Universe pageant; this place sure is quiet. Plenty of time to get in some more training this morning!"

Krillin entered what appeared to be a small shed attached to his home and, after keying in a sequence on a wall display, descended once more to his private training center where he commenced his training.

Bulma had been happy to help Krillin install his underground gym and had loaded it with everything Krillin could ask for. From blast resistant walls, gravity machine, to small mobile ki blasting droids, all powered by a small anti-matter power source and run by the most sophisticated computer on the planet located at the heart of Capsule Corporation itself. The cost of such an installation was enormous. Krillin was a very wealthy man who owned shares in Capsule Corporation and held patent shares on several technologies that he had helped Bulma scavenge over the years from both Dr. Gero's lab and several alien technologies. But there was no way even his wealth could have afforded this bunker. When he had asked Bulma why she would use so much money for a glorified private gym she had simply shrugged and said "I like this planet. Having a few guys around who could protect it from an alien invasion or a some super powerful monsters seems like a good investment." So Krillin had thanked her and made good use of the his gym. Over the years he had trained with some of the greatest fighters alive and had learned a myriad of ways to train and get stronger. From meditating, to physical strengthening, to ki manipulation, to combat training Krillin had found the balance that worked for him. In the past couple of decades he, like his friends, had made enormous strides in power, reaching levels he had never dreamed possible. Even though he was often far behind Super Saiyans and Super Nameks he never gave up training and kept steadily improving. After all, every day is a new day and he knew he might still be needed to protect his planet and his family.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Job

Ch.2

A New Job

 **West City-Capsule Corporation**

18 grinned as she walked into her office and settled herself down behind her enormous mahogany desk. She took a moment to enjoy the solitude and reflect on how happy and content she was.

Years ago, Gero had stripped her and her brother of their humanity, hope, and future. Or at least that's what she believed at the time. But they had slowly reclaimed their lives. 18 had Krillin who patiently befriended her and slowly worked his way into her heart, and 17 had his constant companion Android 16, restored to life by the dragon, who had eased 17's bitterness and loneliness over the years. 17 had settled into a life as a park ranger with 16 and they both found contentment among nature. However, 18 wanted it all and with help had gotten it. She had a husband and child and more recently she had taken over the day to day operations of the largest corporation on the planet. An unexpected benefit of being a cyborg was her ability to memorize and recall enormous amounts of information, this combined with her natural intellect made her a perfect fit for her new role as Vice President of Capsule Corporation.

"Bah, I'm getting to be as sentimental as my idiot husband."

18 turned to her computer and began pouring over reports from various department heads. Everything from legal issues, to capsule production, spaceship production, and a new patent for self sealing stem bolts. Those departments that were behind schedule or were not meeting standards got scathing messages from 18 to get their acts together. Her ability to intimidate was not wasted and most departments would go to great lengths to avoid a personal visit from her.

As 18 finished up her morning reports her boss breezed into through the door. Bulma plopped herself down into the chair in front of 18's desk and smiled.

"I know I have said it before but I sure am glad you're here now 18. After I took over running this operation from mom I barely had any time to spend in the lab with dad. But with you running the show this place runs better than ever and I have plenty of time to work on my inventions."

18 returned the smile "I enjoy the work and people here are usually pleasant, although I do have some big shoes to fill."

Bulma nodded, "I remember. I know I did okay running this place but I never could measure up to mom and her ability to scare the crap out of people. She would be all smiles and serving food in meetings and them BAM she would fire some incompetent idiot who thought she was just some ditzy airhead. She had the ultimate poker face and rival companies never underestimated her more than once. But she is enjoying her retirement though. Hah, did I ever mention that some people would call her the Smiling Piranha behind her back?"

18 shook her head. "No, that's a new one, but I'm not surprised. But I asked for this meeting for a reason. So I asked you here because our capsule production facilities are maxed out and the off planet demand for capsules seems to have almost no limit. Even with heavy use of automation in factories we are still running up against a lack of personnel. Frankly, the Earth doesn't have a large enough work force to supply an entire galaxy of beings who have all decided they really need our products. So we can simply limit the supply of capsules, which I don't recommend. We can import an alien labor force. Or we can start moving some production off world utilizing the labor forces on those worlds."

Bulma brow furrowed, "You never have been much for small talk. But wow, I didn't realize exporting capsules was already this far along. I guess it is a good thing I had already reached a decision before I got here. 18 I want you to step up as the new Chief Executive of Capsule Corp. You are way more involved in the daily operation of this place than I am and I trust that you will keep my family's business on track until hopefully, when you retire, Trunks or Bulla will be ready to take over."

For a moment 18 just blinked. "This is huge. I mean Capsule Corp is basically leading Earth into the stars singlehandedly. And if I am running the company then I am helping to shape the course of the future for this entire planet."

"So is that a yes?" Bulma asked.

"I assume I get a substantial raise and a new office?"

Bulma grinned, "So then it is a yes. The paperwork is being drawn up as we speak and we will make this official next month."

18 stepped around the desk and gave Bulma a hug. "Thanks for trusting me with something like this."

"Well I don't know anyone who could do a better job. By the way what are you going to do about this personnel shortage?"

18 looked out the window at West City and said, "People had better make some room because we will taking a page from your book and inviting aliens to stay at our home."


	3. Chapter 3: A New Age

Ch.3

A New Age

 **Kami's Lookout**

Dende peered over the edge of the lookout. Earthlings were so different from his own people. In just over a couple of decades the Earth had seen so much change. Namekians took things much slower, small changes usually took decades and major changes centuries. Maybe the human love of change stemmed from their short life spans. If so, maybe things would start slowing down now. With Capsule Corps leading the way into space Earth had seen an influx of new alien technologies and the people of Earth seemed to have bottomless desire for new gadgets. The most widespread new technology was the new healing pods. Under the Cold Empire healing pods were a tightly regulated technology, but with the mysterious disappearance of both King Cold and his son Frieza, healing pod technology had started to spread. One of Capsule Corps first major imports from space was also it's most popular. Not only had these pods nearly eliminated recovery time from injuries and sicknesses they also had the side effect of extending life spans for most people who used them. Where once humans could expect to live a century on average, doctors and scientists were projecting a new average life span of two hundred years. In humans past their primes it could even reverse aging to a small degree. The pods only shortcoming was it's inability to cure sickness. So with this incredible boon the world changed. The work force swelled as the elderly were once again filled with vitality, retirement homes closed downs, hospitals and doctors were able to focus on curing diseases since there was little need for helping the injured. Earthlings adapted quickly to these changes and a new age was born.

Dende thought to himself, " I'm glad my human friends will be around a while longer. It can get a little lonely with only Mr. Popo and Piccolo up here to keep me company. But maybe I can set up a communication link back to Namek."

Another new technology available to the galaxy was the Cirk. The Cirk was also leftover technology from the Cold Empire. A massive communications network that had once been used to facilitate troop movement and to keep Cold's Empire in line, now the Cirk was used for galactic trade and communications on a massive scale. As the Cirk constantly expanded and was used for more and more it had become the backbone of a new free economy that was benefiting thousands of worlds including Earth.

"Odd to think that monsters like Frieza and his father would leave behind something that would help trillions of peoples across the galaxy." Dende shuddered as memories of the evils tyrant Frieza passed through his mind.

Dende turned from the edge of the lookout and headed back to continue his studies. He stumbled as the lookout shook and tiles all over the lookout began to shatter under the pressure from combatants going at each other in a incredible display of power. Dende tried to focus on the battle but the speed at which the fighters moved made it difficult to follow. He peered up as the fighters paused. His mentor Piccolo was surrounded by two warriors who had teamed up to topple the green goliath. Dende watched as Piccolo's arms stretched to new lengths as attempted to knock his opponents out of the air. But both opponents dodged and flew above the Namekian as they charged each charged an energy attack.

"Dodon Ray!"

"Kamehameha!"

Both Yamcha's and Tien's ki blasts speed toward Piccolo as he hurriedly retracts his arms in time to bring up his hands to block his opponents attacks. Both humans pour more power into their blasts as Piccolo begins to push back their attacks with blasts from each of his outstretched hands. All three fighters stop their blasts nearly simultaneously and fly at each other with matching looks of determination on their faces.

"No! No, stop it now!" An upset Mr. Popo yells as he races towards them. "You aren't supposed to fight this close to the lookout! Look at the mess you made!"

The trio of warriors pause and look down to see shattered tiles, broken branches, Mr. Popo yelling at them, and Dende gawking at them from an undignified position where it appeared he had fallen and landed on his rear. Yamcha spoke first. "Uh, sorry about that. We got a little carried away and didn't realize that we had drifted back to the Lookout."

"I apologize for the destruction we caused Mr. Popo. I will clean up." Tien spoke as he descended down to the Lookout.

"No. I can repair the Lookout myself but please move your sparring somewhere it won't make such a mess." Mr. Popo frowned as he helped Dende up.

"Well if you say so. I think I will call it a day and head home. Thanks for the spar guys." Tien spoke as he adjusted his flight to take him back to the surface of the planet.

Mr. Popo headed inside to get his broom.

Yamcha grinned, "Your lucky Mr. Popo stopped us Piccolo. See you later!" He sped away surrounded by his white aura.

Piccolo shook his head. "Like those guys could take me."

Dende responded, "You still outmatch them by a lot, but they've made some big gains over the years. I can see why Kami chose them to defend the Earth. Even though can't match up to a Super Sayain they haven't given up their training. They are still determined to be able to protect this world if they are needed."

Piccolo snorted. "It's nice to have different sparring partners but If they want to save the planet they're going to need to step up their game."

Dende just smiled. "Well it's not like we are in danger anyway. After all, we have Goku and Gohan to protect us. Even Vegeta isn't going to stand by if the Earth is in trouble."


End file.
